Chapter Thirteen

Mia walked down the empty stairs to the Gryffindor common room, everyone had left early for the dance. Mia smiled to herself, it was all right, she was kind of glad not to have fussy girls surrounding her. Once she reached the last step, she noticed that there was one other person in the room. Harry was sitting down staring at the fire…dressed…as what else? A Quidditch player. The red and gold Gryffindor colors shown out on his uniform, he went all out wearing his shin guards, boots, gloves…the only part of his body that was actually visible was his head, from the neck up, giving Mia a good look at his hair which was as ruffled as ever.

Mia laughed, getting Harry's attention, "What's so fun…" The question died on his lips. There stood Mia dressed in a beautiful long medieval styled blue velvet dress. It was very plain and simple, going down to her ankles with long blue bell sleeves. There was a black trim at the bottom of the dress and around the edges of the sleeves and neckline. She had a long black belt fastened loosely around her waist, part of the belt hanging down in front of her. The slightly dark shade of blue made her eyes stand out, glowing in a teal color. She had her hair down, two strands framing her face, with a small blue clip holding some of her hair back…She was beautiful.

Mia gave Harry an odd look, "Are you alright?" She asked, looking at her self to see if she had something wrong with her outfit.

"A…a…you look…I…I just…" Harry was speechless. Mustering up all the Gryffindor courage that he could, he walked over to Mia, bowing, "My lady," he straightened up, holding out a silvery-blue Sunmoon flower for her, a flower similar to a simple muggle lotus flower, yet with more vibrant colors. She smiled, talking it in her hand. Harry smiled; he had just been walking back up to the castle after getting changed into his Quidditch uniform. He was cutting through the gardens when he saw a patch of Sunmoon flowers that the Hufflepuff 5th years had been planting, and before he knew it, he found himself walking over to it and picking one, thinking "I hope Mia likes it."

"Thank you Harry," Mia said, cutting off his thoughts, "It's beautiful, how did you know that it was my favorite flower?"

Harry shook his head, "I didn't; I just thought that the most beautiful flower should be for the most beautiful girl. And before you say anything," he added, cutting off Mia's words, "That flower, is the most beautiful one in the garden, and…it…it reminds me of you."

Mia smiled, Harry offered his arm, and she accepted, "Thank you…"

"You're welcome" they headed out of the Common room, "Now, off to the ball…"

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Harry and Mia were enjoying themselves. Harry never expected to ever enjoy dancing at a school ball, surrounded by people starting to form a mosh pit from the music being played. He thought back to his first ball, the Yule ball, oh how he hated that night. If you had asked him only a few months ago if thought he'd enjoy a dance…well, he'd have thought that you swallowed a little too much dumb drought. But now…he'd never had more fun. He looked over at Mia, who was just enjoying herself. He smiled, he would have never been dancing in front of everyone if it hadn't been for Mia dragging him up there. She wasn't afraid of what people said, she told him, if they disliked her then that was their problem, they couldn't make fun of her dancing if she was laughing at herself with them. Harry shook his head, still watching her as the music slowed. Many students went to sit down, as the couples took the floor. Mia started to walk off when Harry grabbed her hand in his gloved one and pulled her gently towards him. They danced to the slow waltz like music, just enjoying each other's company.

"What are you staring at?" Mia asked Harry after a while.

"Sorry," Harry said, "I've just, I still can't believe that you're a sorceress…I've never met anyone who could do sorcery before."

"Well, you did meet one."

Harry looked at her for a moment before getting it, "Oh, yeah, your uncle would be a sorcerer, wouldn't he?"

Mia nodded, laughing slightly, "My uncle is really off his rocker, I mean he does wandless magic almost everyday, and no one seems to notice." Harry laughed as she continued, "I guess no one really expects Albus Dumbledore to be a Sorcerer…"

"Yeah, Professor Dumble…did you say Dumbledore?" Mia nodded, "You mean Dumbledore is your uncle?"

Mia nodded again, "Yes, why? Who did you think was my uncle?"

Harry bowed his head embarrassedly, "Snape." He muttered.

"What?" Mia asked, "Professor Snape?" Harry nodded, and she laughed, he joined in, "No, he's just a family friend. He tutored me in Potions during the summers, but I guess he has been like an uncle to me."

"That explains why he gave you points, he never gives Gryffindors points."

"Yeah, he has a soft spot for me." Mia said in thought.

They danced in silence for a few more moments, when a thought occurred to Harry, "Isn't Dumbledore a little too old to be an uncle?"

Mia laughed, "Well, he's not really my uncle, he's my grandfather. I just call him my uncle because it's a little weird to think a man like that could be a grandfather."

Harry agreed laughing, "Yeah, I didn't even know he had a family, let alone a child."

"Yeah," Mia said quietly, thinking of her mother, before laughing again, "Besides he says calling him grandfather makes him feel too old."

This sent the two laughing. They chatted about odd things till the dance ended. Neither noticed till students started to pour onto the floor for the next fast passed song. The couple laughed embarrassedly at themselves before moving to the next song.

This went on for the rest of the night, Harry and Mia dancing and laughing and talking and just enjoying themselves. There was currently a slow song playing, and Harry and Mia were once again dancing. No one could recall if they even stopped for a break apart from the actual dinner.

"Harry…" Mia started, getting Harry's attention, "Have you noticed that Ron and Hermione keep watching us?"

Harry nodded, "I swear those two are getting paranoid. They keep thinking that you're going to sic Voldemort on me or something."

They both laughed, Mia a little more tensed than Harry's. "Every time I look up, I see them glaring at me…"

Harry took a quick glance up, Mia was right; there were Ron the wizard and Hermione the fairy glaring at them. He shook his head, sighing, "I'll have a talk with them."

Mia smiled slightly; still a little uncomfortable with the other couple watching her…she just knew that something was wrong.

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The night ended with a wonderful costume contest, Draco Malfoy had actually won for the boys; he was dressed as a ferret. And Lavender won for the girls, dressed as a very realistic banshee…and sounding like one to boot.

Mia was still laughing at Harry's explanation behind the humor of Draco's costume when the students started filing out.

Harry and Mia were about to head out themselves when Ron and Hermione approached them.

"Hi Harry," Hermione said, "Mia…"

"Hello Hermione, I haven't talked to you guys all night, where were you?" Harry asked.

"Oh, you know, dancing," Ron said, trying to cover up the glare he was sending Mia, "Look Mia, can we talk to you?" Mia threw a quick glance at Harry before nodding, a nervous feeling growing in her stomach. "Alone…" Ron added when Harry didn't move.

Mia didn't answer, so Hermione spoke, "We just wanted to talk to you about the way we've been acting…"

"Sure…" Mia said, the feeling growing quickly, she didn't like this very much. She turned to Harry for a moment before following Ron and Hermione; "I'll see you later."

Harry just stood there a moment longer watching Mia walk off, a strange feeling forming in his stomach…

Ron and Hermione walked quickly down the winding hall of Hogwarts, heading to some destination unknown to Mia. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"Um…somewhere where we can talk alone…" Hermione answered as Ron opened the door to an empty classroom.

Mia walked in timidly after Hermione, Ron slammed the door shut, startling Mia into turning around, only to see Ron with his wand drawn. "Wha…what's going on?" Mia asked, looking towards Hermione who also had her wand out.

Before she knew what was happening, invisible ropes bound her to a chair. She could have easily gotten out, but she couldn't risk sorcery; especially in front of Hermione again. Ron walked over to her, standing in front of the small desk, placing the chipped replay before her.